Ryuya wasn't the type to let himself be pushed around.
The moment he sensed the fallen angel's killing intent, he was already calculating whether he could kill her first—and his mouth, as usual, showed no mercy.
His sharp retort made the fallen angel's pupils narrow into slits. She looked like an enraged tigress, her expression twisted with fury.
"Just a lowly, inferior demon—how dare you mock me!?"
Her rage erupted like a storm. A barrier spread outward, sealing the surrounding area. In the same motion, she raised her hand, summoning a spear of light and hurling it straight toward him!
But this time, Ryuya wasn't the same as when he'd faced a fallen angel before.
His pupils reflected the glowing spear's trajectory; the attack that once would have been impossible to evade now appeared to move in slow motion before his eyes.
With a firm push of his legs, he leapt backward from the spot—so fast and effortless it was as if he had merely taken a light step—and landed steadily more than ten meters away.
The spear of light struck the pavement and exploded, unleashing a massive shockwave that shredded the shrubs lining the sidewalk into tatters.
So her strength isn't that impressive after all.
She was definitely stronger than the fallen angel he'd killed a few days ago, but Ryuya wasn't human anymore. With his devil's body—and the power of his Sacred Gear—he was confident he could fight on even terms.
A quick assessment flashed through his mind: her attacks were within the range he could handle.
Then the decision was made—
He would find a way to kill her.
He remembered Rias's warning vividly:
"You are a devil now. The moral codes of humans no longer apply to you. Whoever shows killing intent toward you—destroy them without hesitation. Our world is that cruel."
Rias had said those words with genuine concern, not malice.
Thinking of that, Ryuya's eyes sharpened. A silver blade materialized out of thin air, and he gripped it firmly in his hand.
Whoosh!
His body vanished from sight—his speed so fast it left only an afterimage behind.
This was the power of the Knight piece, a class that embodied absolute speed.
And Ryuya had been reborn with two Knight pieces embedded within him. Even as a low-class devil, his agility far exceeded ordinary limits.
The sudden disappearance made the fallen angel, Belgenor, jolt in alarm.
"What!?"
A chilling prickle ran down her neck—an instinctive warning of death.
Almost reflexively, she arched backward, her flexible, serpent-like waist bending in a smooth retreat.
A flash of silver cut through the air—Ryuya's blade passed right across her throat, missing by mere millimeters.
Too close!!
Belgenor flipped backward several times, retreating to create distance. Cold sweat ran down her spine.
She'd underestimated him.
Fear and anger surged together. Spreading her wings wide, Belgenor reformed her light spear. With her movement, the strips of her revealing outfit trembled dangerously with every breath.
Ryuya, however, didn't give her a moment to breathe.
In a streak of light, he closed the distance once again.
The Sword of the Benevolent King gleamed with radiant silver light, leaving a brilliant trail as it slashed toward her neck.
A sharp clang rang out as the strike was blocked by her light spear.
Belgenor's face darkened, and the two weapons clashed again and again, sparks scattering wildly through the night air.
But after only a few exchanges, she felt it—her spear was beginning to waver, its form flickering as if it might collapse at any moment.
Impossible!
She could easily withstand his physical strength as a low-class devil, but that sword—there was something unnatural about it.
It amplified his power to terrifying levels, making each of his blows feel like the strike of a much higher-ranked foe.
She was, after all, once a high-ranking angel who had fallen—yet facing such a lowly, base-class demon, she had to exert her full strength just to barely hold her ground!
Could this sword be some unheard-of Sacred Gear??
After a few more clashes, Belgenor realized with growing alarm that she truly could not withstand his relentless assault. Pride burned into fury; she could not stand being so passive!
Determined not to be on the defensive any longer, she poured most of her power into a single move and forced Ryuya back several steps. With a sweep of her black wings she created distance.
"Spears of Light!!"
Belgenor sneered coldly, and golden-barbed Spears—formed from pure radiance—sprang into existence behind her and shot toward Ryuya.
Ryuya's pupils narrowed. Sharp stings pulsed across his skin and a bitter chill crept through him. Those Spears bit hard.
Again he unleashed his supersonic speed and dodged the piercing Spears one after another.
But the barrage was too numerous; they screamed in and sealed off every escape route. Even with his caution, one of the Spears grazed and pierced his calf.
A white-hot pain shot through him—Ryuya's body convulsed violently.
It was only a single puncture wound, so why did it burn as if it had burrowed into his very bones?
He felt the weight of it. The Spears carried an effect he hadn't anticipated.
Belgenor laughed loudly when she saw him trembling with pain.
"How's that? Weren't you fast? Why the stunned look now? Don't you know light is poison to low-class demons like you? Hahahaha—"
She laughed without restraint; in her eyes the Light Spears had already stripped him of any chance to fight back.
Ryuya's eyes stayed cold. Without a word, he raised the Sword of the Benevolent King once more and charged—though slightly slower than before.
Belgenor's eyes widened in disbelief. Regaining her composure she awkwardly avoided his strike.
"You… you're still this fast after being hit by light toxin?!" she snarled, equal parts furious and bewildered. How could he be unaffected?!
Of course Ryuya was affected—he felt his body tearing itself apart from the inside. Pain roared through him.
But the Sacred Gear's power and the self-regulation of his demon body eased the agony enough for his will to carry him through. He knew, however, he couldn't hold out long.
So he decided: finish it quickly.
He poured every ounce of his energy into the king's sword. The artifact finally revealed a fraction of its fearsome might; an overwhelming aura erupted, pinning Belgenor to the spot.
Belgenor saw the icy resolve in his eyes and frantically fed more power into her Light Spears—but Ryuya regarded them as if they didn't exist.
Had he gone mad? Was he trying to take her down with him?!
Belgenor's expression twisted into a feral grin. If that was the case, she'd fight to the death. After all, she still had a higher-tier angelic body—couldn't that prevail?
"Let's see who dies first!"
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